New Fond du Lac school day schedule unveiled

23 minutes added to elementary students' routine

May 3, 2012

Written by

The Reporter

A new scheduling plan will give all Fond du Lac students more time with teachers while also increasing the length of the elementary school day by 23 minutes.

Beginning next fall, students in the Fond du Lac School District will see revamped schedules that allow for intervention and enrichment blocks. And instead of the mandatory before-school collaboration time for teachers three times a week, that time will now be built into the school day.

The length of day for students in middle and high school will not be impacted.

"We will be more consistent district-wide at each (grade) level than we have ever been," School Superintendent Jim Sebert said.

Sophomore class president Daniel Loomans, organizer of a high school group called Students 4 Opportunity, said the new schedule is a positive move that addresses concerns that have existed all year.

The group had petitioned the Fond du Lac Board of Education after experiencing a lack of time to meet with teachers because of the mandatory collaboration. Many activities take place before school, including music and band rehearsals, as well as meetings for various clubs and organizations.

"I am happy that the school district and administration have put together a plan and are ready to implement it," Loomans said. "Overall, the plan looks great to me and we will be able to get the teacher contact time we need each day. I am glad that we have come to a conclusion and a resolution," Loomans said.

The plan was formulated with help from Michael Rettig, a national scheduling expert hired by the school district to study ways to maximize time. Rettig was paid $20,600 for his professional services.

Fond du Lac Education Association President Hedy Eischeid said there are major concerns with the plan, and teachers were only involved in the decisions in a cursory way.

"Students in all elementary buildings will get only 20 minutes of recess a day. Additionally, some of our kindergarten students will receive their intervention time at the end of the day when they are tired and will not have had a break since lunch," she said.

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At the middle school level, students will actually have less time with science and social studies teachers, according to Eischeid.

"It is ironic that while the district is starting a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) charter school in the name of focusing on science instruction (it is) cutting science instruction with this new proposal at the three middle schools next year," she said.

By building in common preparation periods across the district it allow for increased grade level and/or department collaboration," Sebert said.

"We have also been able to create blocks that will allow kids to get extra help or extension during the school day as well," he said.

Additionally, time before school and after school, absent faculty type meetings, will be open for student/ teacher contact time and clubs.

Elementary level

Elementary students will attend school from 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Lakeshore and Rosenow Elementary Schools will operate from 8:40 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. because of bussing schedules.

An intervention/enrichment block will be offered for 45 minutes to students in kindergarten through fourth grade. Students in fifth grade will be given an hour to accommodate beginning performance music. A rotation every six days will consist of physical education, art, music and media classes.

Performing music rehearsals will also be rotated during the block to ensure student access while protecting core instruction time, Sebert said.

Middle school

Students will continue to attend school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with 86-minute blocks for the core subjects of math and language arts (all year), and science and social studies (one semester). A 30-minute intervention/enrichment block will be added. Performing music rehearsals will be rotated during the block.

The goal, Sebert said, is "for students to have access to everything offered in middle school to provide exploration and readiness for additional choices offered in high school."

High school

High school will be in session from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. The nine-period day will include classes that are 45 minutes long, with a 35-minute intervention/enrichment block called "Cardinal Time." There will be three 45-minute lunch periods.

A "Cardinal Success Time" will be added during the first 25 minutes of lunch for freshmen who are not meeting academic expectations.

The addition of 23 minutes at the elementary level still fits within the staff workday, so there are no plans for additional teacher compensation, Sebert said.

" We did have many teachers involved in the scheduling work who were positive about the additional time being added for instruction," he said. "Our elementary school day was shorter, comparatively, and the extra time allows for bigger blocks of time for instruction and the intervention and enrichment block consistently across the district."